Good asGold begins with two epigraphs that define its concerns. The first is a statement Lyndon B. Johnson made when he was Senate Majority Leader: "I've got his pecker in my pocket." This crude but forceful assertion highlights Joseph Heller's belief that the number one commodity in America's capital is power, with social status and wealth the second most important values for many Americans. According to the author, there are no statesmen at the nation's helm. Instead Heller presents the reader with a book-writing, self-promoting chief executive, a position-promising member of the President's inner circle, and an ambitious academician who would like to escape the burden of paper grading and become Secretary of State. In addition to these unsavory characters, Heller also spews invective at real Washington politicians, including Richard Nixon, David Eisenhower, and Henry Kissinger. In Heller's Washington, success is measured according to what does...